Cardboard boxes are used in the shipping and storage of a wide variety of products. Cardboard boxes are convenient, relatively durable, reusable and recyclable. There are many cardboard boxes in use for household storage which were originally used to ship other goods.
Very often cardboard boxes are used for the storage and transport of very heavy products or other objects. In such situations, the manufacturer of the heavy product may order cardboard boxes with specially formed handles on each side of the box for the purposes of grasping and lifting the box. The handles are formed by making C-shaped cuts in the side of the box. The cardboard lying inside the “C” can be pushed inwards and folded along a line between each end of the cut, thus forming a hole. Most often, the fold line is at the top of the hole, allowing the user to grip the handle more comfortably as the smooth outer surface of the cardboard is resting on their hands and not the sharper edges of cut cardboard.
There are many situations where the initial user of a cardboard box (e.g. the manufacturer of a product) does not wish to incur the expense of having handles cut in the box. As a result, the box is much more difficult to carry when the boxes are individually transported. If the box is reused later, for moving, storage etc., the lack of a handle in the cardboard will make carrying the box more difficult. Movers, for example, are often faced with the unpleasant prospect of transporting dozens of cardboard boxes, few of which have handles.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,806,190 (issued to the inventor of the present invention) discloses a handle cutter assembly (the '190 cutter) with a main body, a detachable blade with a C-shaped cutting profile extending from the main body and a guide body which pierces the cardboard box from the other side so as to guide the main body and blade to the desired location. This handle cutter assembly also uses a unique blade with high and low portions. The high portions are used to pierce the cardboard, while the lower portions follow through to produce the desired cut. While the '190 cutter is a very useful tool, improvements could be made. The blade of the '190 cutter is always exposed and poses potential risks to users when it is not in use.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved handle cutter assembly which can be produced inexpensively, can use replaceable blades and which can help prevent cutting when the handle cutter assembly is not in use.